An 18 year-old girl was murdered Tuesday afternoon in her house in the Jawarish neighborhood in the city of Ramla, south of Tel Aviv.

Police forces set up roadblocks throughout the city in an attempt to locate the vehicle from which the girl was shot. The police believed the shooting was an "honor killing" and arrested several of the girl's first degree relatives.

Domestic Violence

Ramla: Woman killed in front of her children / Eli Senyor

Masked person opens fire at city resident as she leaves her home; woman's small children, their babysitter witness incident. Police estimate murder carried out as 'honor killing'

A preliminary investigation revealed that the girl was inside the house when an unknown person walked in and shot her several times from close range. The assailant then escaped in a car.

Investigators who arrived at the scene of the crime immediately recognized the girl, as she had been staying in a women's shelter until about a year ago.

Threats were recently made on the girl's life by her family members. When she turned 18, she decided to move back in with her family.

'Girl received life threats'

Police Commander Yiftah Ducovny said, "This is a shocking murder. When you see a girl lying dead in her home, inside her room, it is obviously shocking. At this stage we have arrested a number of the girl's first degree relatives and they are now being interrogated."

Addressing the girl's background, he said that "an initial investigation revealed that the girl received life threats in the past from family members, and was therefore taken out of her home and moved to a women's shelter. When she turned 18 she decided to return to her family.

"As far as we are concerned, the investigation is at its peak and focuses on the main suspicion that the murder was an honor killing," he added.

About three weeks ago, a mother of two was murdered in front of her children in Ramla, most likely as an "honor killing”. The woman, a 29-year-old divorcee, was killed by a barrage of gunshots while standing at the entrance to her home.

The police investigation revealed that the woman was standing at the entrance to her home with her two 4-year-old and 8-year-old children, and was about to leave the house. The babysitter who arrived to look after the children was also present.

At the same moment, a masked person carrying a gun passed by the house and fired at the upper part of the mother's body. The woman collapsed on the door threshold, covered with blood.

The children and the babysitter, who witnessed the horrifying sight, began shouting, and their neighbors called the police.